Speechless

Speechless is how I have felt since doing a fundraiser this past March for the children who live in the orphanage in Africa where my daughter lived.  How do you sufficiently say "thank-you" to people who selflessly helped to raise more than $16,000?

The 200+ people who attended the fundraiser event, and the many more who donated even though they couldn't be there, was very overwhelming and encouraging.  I partnered with my good friend, Rebecca Siegrist who has adopted two boys from the same country as our Della.

This success certainly was not due our skills as fundraisers..... as we have never done anything like this before.  Even more encouraging is how the children at the orphanage have improved:

60% of 87 children were moderately to severely malnourished in March 2013.  Six months later 100% of the children at the orphanage have seen an improved nutritional status. Six children have progressed from severely malnourished to moderately malnourished and six more children have gone from malnourished to within normal weight ranges. Improvements continue daily and, in total, the kids at the orphanage have gained 49 pounds and grown 24 inches. 

You can check out more specifics here.  

God is amazing in how He brings things together for His purpose and glory!

 

Thank-you, Jesus!

We've a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks, thank-you Jesus!  Along with asthma, Emma has been diagnosed with Vocal Cord Dysfunction, or VCD, which is triggered either by asthma or stress or a combination of the two.  To explain it simply, when some people have stress they might throw up, or shake.  In her case her vocal cords close causing her to cough and not breath well until they reopen which can last a few minutes or many hours.  It can be so severe a trip to the ER is required, which is what we have had to do twice in the last year or so.  There is no medication for VCD, she'll have to learn to control it through relaxation techniques.

We made the very difficult and "last ditch effort" to keep Emma in school by moving her to another Elementary school that is newer (less than five years old) but more than twice as big as her old school.  The first week was a little rough, but by the fourth day she made it the whole day!  She has had NO asthma attacks, only the VCD.  We were elated to say the least!! And hopeful that it might work.  So, it seems she is allergic to something at her old school.

Some people might think the following is a coincidence, but I know God planned it:  at this new school, in one of Emma's classes, another girl has been dealing with the same coughing issue as Emma for the past 4 months.  Because of this, the teachers and nurses are used to the "interruptive" coughing and noises. So Emma can stay the whole day even if she is having VCD symptoms.  She has quickly made lots of friends and really enjoys the classes (once she can figure out where they are in the building).  I have never seen her smile so much and so big!

Della's cast has come off and she is also making great progress!  She can walk much better with her walker now that her foot is straighter.  She also has even more movement in her weaker leg which is amazing to us!  She is very persistant with her physical therapy and her leg is healing very well.

First cornrows in her hair - took mom 2 hours

 We celebrated Eli's 9th birthday, he's our second oldest.  He requested an ice cream cake with raw cookie dough.  All the kids made him drawings for his birthday :).

Josey

Wyatt

We are thankful to have a "break" from physical issues for now.  Now onto the continued planning of our fundraiser for the orphanage Della lived at in Africa. We have a silent auction planned with services and merchandise of all kinds like an antique tobacco basket, quilts, gift baskets, photo sessions, meals, etc. :

 

Silent Auction Fundraiser March 22

 

Here we go!!  I am so excited to announce we are having a silent auction to raise money for Global Orphan Foundation's "Pebble Project" (see more info here).  My friend, Rebecca Siegrist, and I feel called to do more for these orphans.  100% of money raised will be used to provide food and medicine to 2 orphanages where my daughter and her boys lived.  Our hearts were heavy after the news that out of the three orphanages our adoption agency works with in Africa, 5 children died of starvation the week after we came home with Della last July.  There are over 13 million orphans and abandoned children in the DRC.  In the DRC, 10% of children die before the age of one.  Nearly 30% of children under the age of five suffer from undernutrition.  We feel called to help feed these children so they will have a chance at life.

I know this problem might seem too big, what difference can we really make?  Well, here's how you can help:

Will you be willing to donate something for our auction?
If you own a business, a good or service from your business would be a wonderful item for us to auction off.  If you don't own a business, maybe you could make a "theme basket" (examples--movie night basket with various movies and popcorn, etc; spa basket with a gift card for a manicure and pedicure and some nail polish, etc.) or donate an antique.  Be creative!  

Will you come out to the silent auction/fundraiser and bid on some of the items?  

Will you take an evening and give some money towards a cause that is bigger than yourself?  This past Sunday in church, our pastor stated these statistics...if you make more then $20,000 a year, you are rich.  If you make more than $39,000 a year, you are filthy rich.   So, rich friends...I am going to ask again will you come out and support the Pebble Project's vision to feed and raise up strong children in the DRC?

Healing or endurance?

Since my last post Della had surgery on her leg & ankle (she had a club foot due to a polio infection as an infant). She was an excellent patient...the only time she cried was when dad went home to be with our other children.

After surgery she ate crackers and ice cream in bed.

That afternoon, evening and the whole next morning she played with a baby the whole time...changing it's diaper.

After six weeks of no weight-bearing, she now has a smaller, shorter, walking cast and is sooo happy to be able to put weight on her leg.  She is healing nicely and everything will come off at the end of January.  She already has improved in her standing and walking!  We thought her left leg from the knee down was totally immobile.  About 1 month ago I noticed she was moving her big toe!!  We've prayed that one day Della will be able to run like our other children, but we've also accepted maybe that's not God's plan for her life.  She's perfect just the way she is for her unique mission.  But we do thank Him for this one small miracle of movement!

Our oldest daughter, Emma, has had asthma attacks only at school since October (read more here).  After visiting a pulmonary specialist at Johns Hopkins, and increasing her medications, we thought we had a breakthrough in December.  She had only 2 asthma attacks within 3 weeks.  Once she returned to school this past week from the Christmas break she has had an asthma attack every morning and her symptoms are so bad so she has to come home. 

We pray for healing, but God's plan isn't always for physical healing, it may be for growing endurance......"when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." *

*The Bible - James 1:2-4

Hardship, really?

We have had some "hardships" this past month and a half.  We are in the midst of trying to figure out how to get Emma's (who is our oldest) asthma under control.  She has had an asthma attack every school day for the past 13 days.  We have tried many different medications and nothing seems to work.  The asthma attacks are so bad I have to bring her home from school.  We go to a pulmonary specialist at Hopkins this week.  To make matters worse, Emma gets so upset when she has to miss classes.  And I can't possibly go into town or run errands for fear I won't make it back in time to give her medication during the attacks.  

Della gets surgery next week at Hopkins on her right foot.  She's making awesome progress with her physical therapy.  But, her foot being turned gets in the way when she walks.  We knew surgery was a possibility even before we met her.  We are excited to get this corrected, but it's difficult to put her through it.  She'll be in a cast for about 6 weeks. Thank-you for all your continued support and prayers!

To top it all off....last weekend Eli (our second oldest) hit his head pretty hard and has headaches every day.  I'm sure he probably has a concussion.

 hardship 

a condition that is difficult to endure; suffering; deprivation; oppression.

Never mind......according to the definition I don't have hardships.  I have obstacles.

 obstacle 

something that obstructs or hinders progress.

I need to be thankful that I live in a country like the U.S. where we have the best medicine and doctors to care for my children.  I need to be thankful we have enough (and more) food to feed them.  I need to be thankful my husband has a stable job, and I'm able to stay home and raise my children.  I need to be thankful my children are crying because "he hit me first", not because their bellies are hungry.

Heavy hearts

Doug and I have had heavy hearts since returning from Africa.  We cannot forget the children we left behind in the orphanage there, the same one our daughter lived in (you can read more here).  Out of the three orphanages our adoption agency works with in Africa, 5 children died of starvation the week after we came home.  The African country we have adopted from has put a hold on letting children go home with their new families for up to 12 more months.  A family who returned to the U.S. illegally "re-homed" a child that wasn't "working out".  The African country found this info through the internet and needless to say was very upset.  It has been suggested we do not use the country's specific name on the internet or social media as to not upset them more.  These orphans have moved our hearts so much that we are organizing fundraisers to provide basic needs such as food and medicine (more details to come in the next month).  We can't forget those little faces thirsting for someone to give them love and attention.  I see this little girl's smile (below) in my mind all the time.  She appears to be under 5 years old, but, due to many years of malnourishment, when she smiles her teeth reveal she is 2 or 3 years older.  These orphans reality is survival and possibly death before they turn 5 years old.  That could have been our Della's story, but God is good, and He moves in lives.  Della shows me what it truly feels and looks like when God adopts us into His family!

Look at your child's face, or if don't have a child, look at one's face who is close to your heart.....and think about this...

If you can bare to imagine, envision that child living in a place where no one is coming back to take them home.  They have no one to tuck them in at night.  

No one to cuddle and kiss her soft cheek, no one to tickle her and tell her "I love you".  

Imagine your child has no blanket to comfort her or even a mattress to sleep on, just hard wooden slats.  

Can you hear the flies buzzing around where she sleeps and lives? ...And a smell worse than any barnyard we have experienced here in America? 

She wears shared, tattered, clothes that she cannot call her own, and are two sizes too big or small.  

Her belly is hungry... I don't mean the kind where she whines a little, but the kind of hunger felt for days, and months, so intense she has no energy left to complain about it.  She is so malnourished she weighs half as much as a healthy girl her age. 

Imagine your baby girl crying and crying and no one coming to comfort her.  Deprived of attention for so many months she finally gives up her cry... laying listless, staring.  

Imagine this girl has no hope, no education.  If she lives to the be too old to live at the orphanage, she'll most likely resort to making a living through prostitution or crime.

Now imagine that you look into that child's eyes, face-to-face, and tell her it costs too much, you'll have to give up too much, it will take too long, you're not strong enough to bring her back home.  Nonsense, right?  You are strong enough, all you have to do is be willing, say "yes".

Wouldn't you do anything to get to that child, to bring them home?  

I know, I'm pulling at your heart's strings.  You say what I said before,  "That's for someone else to take on, someone more "special" than me".  But you see, that's exactly what the "special" people think right before they become "special". There's nothing special about saying "yes".  However, there is a challenge and a commitment and certainly a sacrifice.  

I remind you to look again at that child's face.... 

My husband, Doug, had an interesting conversation which a lady from our church.  She asked our family's plans for this summer and he mentioned we would at some point be in Africa to bring our newest little girl, Della, home.  He explained a little about orphanages in this part of Africa, like the one where our little girl came from.  She said something like, if she visited one of those orphanages she would want to bring all the children back to our church and the church family's would work out the rest.

This got me thinking... How many people would be willing to take one of those orphans home?  An orphan who is standing right in front of them?  A child who has no one to give them attention, no family returning to bring them back home.  A child who has no one to tuck them in at night (or much less a blanket or mattress), no one to kiss them and hear "I love you".  Doug and I never thought about adoption being part of our story.  Now that we know other family's who have been through the process, we're not afraid of it.  It's doable, and more than that, God commands us to do it.  I know I'm probably stepping on some toes, but if by sharing what we've gone through helps just one more family to know how possible adoption is, then that's one less child without a family. 

What am I willing to give up for a child?